DRUG DEALER: EX-COP HELPED BUSINESS BOOM

He Claims Sinclair Paid For Warnings

The drug-selling business couldn't have been better for Derrick "Smiley"
Smith and two of his companions in 1997.

They had carved out a territory of needy crack cocaine users in Northwest
Jacksonville, enjoyed a steady supply of drugs being shipped from Miami and
were surrounded by workers they didn't fear would turn them in.

Then, according to Smith and federal prosecutors, they added a new member
to the payroll and business got even better. His name: Aric Sinclair. His
occupation: narcotics detective, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

"It made the team stronger. It was powerful," Smith said last week in a
prison interview with the Times-Union. "We got the police on our team.
We're protected. We always kept one step ahead of them [good cops]."

Smith is one of three drug dealers whose arrests in August 1999 led to a
federal grand jury investigation of Jacksonville police. The probe began
with allegations by the dealers that they paid Sinclair for information
about pending drug busts. Investigators then obtained information that led
to charges of police being involved in murder, robberies and drug trafficking.

Sinclair and ex-Officer Karl Waldon, both arrested in December, are charged
throughout a 24-count indictment and face trial in February.

Prosecutors said Smith, who told tales of being involved in making weekly
payoffs of up to $2,000 to Sinclair, inexplicably stopped cooperating with
them shortly after signing a plea agreement. He got a 30-year prison
sentence in October, while the other drug dealers got less time, partly for
their help.

The Smith interview at the Federal Correctional Institution in Jesup, Ga.,
near Brunswick, was the first time he had spoken publicly about the case.
He addressed a variety of topics, including having a cop on the payroll,
accepting a lengthy prison term to protect his family and himself, and
knowing of other illegal activity by police still in uniform.

As for Sinclair, Smith described him in simple, disturbing terms.

"He was an undercover gangster," Smith said. "I can't say it no simpler
than that."

Mark Rosenblum, one of Sinclair's attorneys, said such allegations will be
challenged if Smith ever testifies against Sinclair.

"There's a trial set for February and at that trial there will be certain
rules of the game, most important of which is that people like Mr. Smith
and anyone else that's making damning allegations against Aric Sinclair
will not only be providing statements on direct examination, but they'll
also be subject to cross-examination," Rosenblum said. "At that time, what
they say and their credibility will be tested. Ultimately, it will be up to
a jury to make a decision about whether they're telling the truth."

Smith, unrestrained and wearing a tan prison uniform, was occasionally
evasive and declined to answer several questions during the interview
because he said providing details would hurt his chances of getting a
reduced sentence. He said he expects such a break because he has resumed
cooperating with prosecutors, though court records make no mention of the
renewed help.

"The government knows that without my information, they wouldn't be at the
point they're at," Smith said. "It's still very important to them."

Lead prosecutor Jim Klindt declined to comment.

Smith, who refused to speak with Klindt as late as the day before his
sentencing, said he never intended to stop cooperating with the government.
But he said his decision to face a lengthy prison term, rather than
convince prosecutors to ask a judge to give him a reduced sentence, was
made for protection until the police officers under investigation were
arrested.

Smith said Sinclair and others made threats, but Smith wouldn't give details.

"One must know when you cooperate with the government against people like
these, you have to be very careful to stay alive," Smith said. "You know,
these are police officers. I was over in the jailhouse. There was easy
access. Police come in and out all the time. I had to make it seem like I
wasn't [cooperating]."

Smith has been a friend to trouble since he was young, having grown up in a
poor family in neighborhoods where drugs were common.

"I looked around and saw the material things and what was going on in my
environment," said Smith, 29. "I became wanting to be involved in all that.
I just wanted to be in the crowd."

Smith's criminal record includes about 20 arrests, including two attempted
murder charges for separate shootings. Many of those cases, including the
shootings, were dismissed.

Smith said he now regrets choosing a life of crime, but he said on the
street he felt invincible.

"I was raised to fear God, not man. If we're on equal footing, then I'm
dominating," Smith said. "I knew my life consisted of taking all kinds of
risks. ... I honestly felt like nothing could ever happen to me."

Court records show that Smith, Abdul Robinson and Dondrecka Bates began
working together in the late 1980s buying and selling cocaine. Records show
that another drug dealer, Darryl Crowden, introduced Sinclair to the
dealers and the weekly payoffs began. Information provided by Sinclair
included when police were planning drug raids and identities of
confidential informants and an undercover officer, court records said.

"I couldn't go to a police officer and say, 'Look, let me pay for your
information,"' Smith said. "It was brought to me."

The value of such help was enormous, he said.

"Information is very important," Smith said. "That is the advantage. If you
knew every step I moved toward you, it serves me no purpose in trying to
find out anything." Then he added, "The information wasn't the only thing
going on," but wouldn't elaborate.

Smith said Sinclair was not the only officer he knew who was involved in
illegal activity, though he wouldn't elaborate. In court records filed by
Smith, he said his assistance included providing information about Sinclair
and other officers in the indictment, and about three officers who have yet
to be arrested. No identities were given and Sheriff Nat Glover has said
the investigation has been limited to those already charged.

"It was more than just him [Sinclair]," Smith said, "You've got a few of
them, just a couple. They're on their way to going to jail."

Bates and Robinson began cooperating shortly after their arrests. Bates got
a reduction in his sentence for his help, while Robinson is awaiting word
on post-conviction relief. Smith said he hadn't expected those closest to
him to become cooperating witnesses, but he joined in when he found out.

"I just figured that these guys don't break," Smith said. "They can't back
down and they don't fold for nobody."

Though the investigation has moved far beyond the initial assistance
provided by the drug dealers, Smith insists his help continues to be
valuable -- he even suggests he's providing a public service -- and expects
that to be reflected in the actual time he spends in prison.

"I owe the public to make sure no one else falls victim to these undercover
gangsters playing cops and robbers," Smith said, moments before returning
to his cell.